Welcome back to Box Office Breakdown, the weekly segment where I analyze the top ten highest grossing films of the past weekend.
Unfortunately, since most theatres are still closed down due to the COVID-19 and will continue to be for a while, we are unable to analyze the box office as studios are not reporting weekend projections. Due to this situation, studios are prematurely pulling films from theatres and releasing them on VOD, allowing audiences to watch them within the comfort of their own home. While theatres are temporarily shut down for an indefinite amount of time, we are dedicating this segment to analyzing how each film fares on VOD.
As theatres are preparing to open in the coming weeks and summer quickly approaches, studios are beginning to release high profile films more frequently. This past weekend is particular was very eventful in terms of new releases, as three highly anticipated films were released on VOD and streaming.
Due to the immense success of Trolls World Tour, Universal is continuing to release their high profile films on VOD rather than postponing them until theatres reopen. This once again proved to be a very successful strategy, as Judd Apatow and Pete Davidson’s semi-autobiographical dramedy The King of Staten Island has been generating plenty of buzz and is currently occupying the top spot on every major VOD platform, including iTunes and Amazon. The film received stellar reviews from critics, with many praising the skillfully written screenplay and Davidson’s heartfelt lead performance. Based on the buzz the film has generated, it will likely dominate the charts for the next few weeks.
This past weekend also marked the release of this years first major awards contender: Spike Lee’s Vietnam War film Da 5 Bloods, which is currently available to stream on Netflix. The film tackles very relevant themes and has received extremely strong reviews from critics, with many claiming it is the best film of the year thus far. Da 5 Bloods placed #4 on Netflix’s top 10 trending list and will likely continue to climb the chart in the coming weeks.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, after numerous delays, Disney released Kenneth Branagh’s high budget Artemis Fowl adaptation, which is currently available to stream on Disney+. The film received extremely negative reviews from critics and fans of the book series seem to be disappointed as well. It’s success is unclear as Disney does not publicly announce how many times their content has been viewed, but it’s safe to say that it probably wouldn’t have done well if it was released theatrically.
Aside from new releases, we wanted to report which films have been generating the most sales on the iTunes Charts. Apple doesn’t release statistics or a weekly chart, so these are the top 10 films on iTunes based on the moment this article was being written:
10. Birds of Prey
9. Just Mercy
8. The Shawshank Redemption
7. Emma
6. Scoob!
5. The Hunt
2. Gemini Man
In terms of upcoming releases, Warner Bros. has officially announced that they will be delaying Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated blockbuster Tenet by two weeks. The film will now be released on July 31st with Inception receiving a theatrical re-release on Tenet‘s original release date to commemorate its 10 year anniversary. Due to this shift, Wonder Woman 1984 has been rescheduled to October 2nd, 2020. and Bill & Ted Face the Music will now be released on August 14th, 2020. Additionally, Bios starring Tom Hanks has been moved to April 16th, 2021.
In the coming weeks, we will continue to analyze the state of VOD releases and will provide updates regarding upcoming films.
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